


Blame it on My ADD (Baby)

by Ehwell



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, Annie-Centric, Demigod AU, F/F, Gen, Mild Blood, Mild Language, Multi, PJO AU, Trans Male Character, side pairings may have perspective chapters if theres enough readers, the gang is at camp halfblood, there might be polyamory, theres not enough annie fic around, who knows - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-01
Updated: 2017-09-05
Packaged: 2018-05-24 05:58:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 17,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6143761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ehwell/pseuds/Ehwell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Annie is running for her life from a cyclopes. Her day is going to get worse before it gets better.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Cyclopes, Satyrs, and Giants, Oh My

Annie was by no means out of shape, but she was getting pretty damn winded as she zig zagged between morning commuters, nearly slamming into a couple sitting at a cafe table. She managed to take a flying leap and barely cleared the thing. 

The man yelled obscenities at her, over the sound of shattering ceramic but she didn’t have time to stop on apologise. She could hear the heavy footsteps thundering behind her and the messy panting of the cyclopes hot on her heels. 

When she took a quick glance over her shoulder, the scene in her wake flickered from a 8 ft tall bruiser wearing construction coveralls, saliva dripping down his face to a man in a suit. Another trick of the mist. The huge club in his had even looked like a briefcase. Just her luck, she probably looked like a street kid who’d lifted some stock brokers wallet. 

Pouring on another burst of speed, she rounded the corner and scanned the street for escape options. Old, ivy covered building, fire escape, dumpster, window well, boarded up window. Before she could make a decision, the ivy seemed to come to life and entwined her ankles and midsection, effectively dragging her into a doorway hidden behind its large leaves. 

Torn between the desire to escape from the plant’s grasp and desire to avoid notice of the the cyclopes still hot on her tracks, she managed to stifle a scream and instead made a strange squeaking noise. She thought, “wow good one, Annie”. Luckily it didn’t attract the attention of the monster that lumbered past, scratching it’s head. It turned into the alley muttering about losing a perfectly good snack. 

With one crisis averted, she fished the knife Marcel had given her “for emergencies” out of the pocket and started sawing at the vines, which were surprisingly strong. She considered hitting the smooth silver button opposite the blade which Marcel had told her was only for “super emergencies” but before she had a chance a voice cut through the dim room.

“What the hell? Don’t do that, they just saved your ass and now you’re hurting them. Real nice thank you. Geez.”

Annie nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of the voice behind her.

“What?”

“You heard me. If you just relax, they’ll loosen on their own.”

Her eyes finally adjusted to the dim light inside the boarded up building and she was able to make out who or what had spoken to her. A boy, in a bright orange t-shirt and olive colored cargo pants with a buzz cut and a lopsided grin that took up nearly half his face. Stranger even were his legs. From the waist down he had actual, furry goat legs. 

Aside from that he seemed normal enough (her new normal anyway), and maybe even friendly, but most monsters are when they’re about to eat. True to his word, however, the vines slowly disentangled her lower limbs. This did little to put her at ease, though. 

She tightened her grip on her knife and brandished it at him. It was quite pathetic really, trying to take on a monster with a 4 inch pocket knife, even one barely taller than her 5 feet and 2 inches, but she wasn’t about to go out without a fight.

“Who are you?”, she demanded, doing her best to keep the quake out of her vice

He smiled even bigger and waved his hands in a calm down motion

“You can put that thing away. I’m not gonna hurt you. My name’s Connie. I’m your protector.”

“My protector?”, she asked dubiously, not lowering the knife

“Yep. Your new one anyway. Here to replace Marcel. I was sorry to hear about him biting the dust, he was a good satyr. I’m here to take you to Camp Halfblood.”

She lowered the knife a little and he took her blank look as a sign to continue

“You’re a demigod. Half mortal, half god. You don’t know one of your parents, you can’t sit still cause the the ADHD, monsters suddenly thirst for you blood. Ring a bell? Well I’m here to take you to one of the only places you’ll be safe.”

-

Was she walking into some kind of trap? Was she going to end up in some kind of monster den where they’d call dibs on her internal organs before eating her? Probably. Did she have much of a choice? Hardly. 

All these thoughts passed through her head rapid fire while she followed behind Connie. The kid had put in some kind of fake legs over his goat ones and was walking with crutches. He looked completely harmless. After all, if he’d wanted to kill her and suck out her bone marrow, he could’ve when she was restrained in the building. 

And he knew Marcel. He was one of the few people she’d allowed to befriend her after some asshole tried to jack her bag while she was asleep in the alley off 31st. Annie hadn’t had much of a chance to mourn his death because of the near constant stream of monsters on her tail. 

He was a good guy, and if Connie was telling the truth, he’d stopped monsters getting to her much sooner. That made her feel a little less guilty because if he was doing his job then she hadn’t just dragged him into this mess with her demi god-ness. A little less guilty, but not much. 

The scene flashed in front of her eyes for what felt like the 100th time. Marcel clutched in a giant’s fingers, eyes bugging out of his head as the huge hand crushed his ribcage. He’d barely had the breath to half shout, half croak, 

“Go Annie, Run! Fuckin run!”. 

She had looked back just as the monster’s fangs closed around her friend’s neck, ripping his head off with a sickeningly wet crunching noise. 

“Annie, you okay?”, Connie asked gently

Apparently she had stopped walking when she started thinking about Marcel

“Yeah, just thinking.”

She half jogged to keep up with him, doing her best to wipe the look of horror she knew was painted across her features 

“So how do we get to this camp?”

“We drive!”, he said brightly, then gestured with his arms stretched out in front of him to what may have been the ugliest car Annie had ever laid eyes on. It was a VW Bug that had seem much better days, in say, the 1960’s. 

The door looked rusted closed and it was missing it’s front bumper. Connie looked so proud, though, that she kept her mouth shut. 

“She’s a beaut. Wait till you see the inside. The kids from the Hephaestus cabin really fixed her up nice.”

Annie just nodded and reached for the handle, silently praying to anyone who was listening, her dad maybe, that the door wouldn’t fall off in her hand.


	2. A GIANT Mistake

She woke up to the faint sound of Metallica. The sun was near blinding from where her face was pressed up against the window. Connie asked in a voice a little to loud for her taste, especially having just woke up

“How’d you sleep? We’re almost there.”

She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and nodded, silently wondering how he drove with goat legs. Did his hooves just slip off the pedals? When they first began their journey, she hadn’t gotten a chance to look around the car before she’d fallen asleep because she was exhausted from the deadliest game of tag she’d ever had the pleasure of playing. 

Connie was right, she realized. For the external appearance of the little car looked like the inside was decked out. By the looks of it, the thing was heavily armored, with several brightly colored buttons, the largest of which labeled “rocket launcher”. It seemed Connie wasn’t the type to be bothered by a conversation being heavily one sided. 

Since she’d woken up, he’d started in on explanations of the layout of the camp, quests, ambrosia, which he offered her, and approximately 7 million other things. Annie was content to let the information flow over her. It made her feel less weary about the entire situation. Several minutes more passed and they came upon a large hill.

“Halfblood Hill!” Connie proudly announced “This is camp.”

Annie sleepily stumbled out of the car and looked up at the expanse of grass. Maybe this was somewhere she could finally be at peace. Somewhere she could finally call home. But no sooner had she thought that then the car they had just exited made a ear splitting cracking noise. 

The pair turned on heel and discovered a massive monster standing atop a pile of squished metal that had once been a VW Bug. Annie’s stomach dropped as she backed away slowly. This was the same giant who’s killed Marcel.

“My car!” Connie shouted in outrage. 

He immediately flew into action and pulled a pan flute out of his pockets and began to play. It was if the pine trees in the surrounding hills came to life around then and began to pin the giant down to the ground. Annie made a mental note to never mess with Connie and pulled out her pocket knife. 

Sadly, it seemed like she might have an even worse chance fighting this thing with it than Connie but she stood her ground.

The boy turned to her and shouted, “Run, over the hill, you’ll be safe. I’ve got thi-”

But just then the giant, who was still fighting of the pine trees ensnaring it’s arms and legs let out a terrible yell and ripped one of its long arms free and managed to sweep Connie’s legs out from under him. His pipes were knocked from his hands and the trees stopped fighting against the monster. Connie held on to the ground as the giant grabbed one of his feet and slowly began dragging him towards its open mouth.

Annie stood completely frozen, remembering Marcel. She only had one option. Gritting her teeth, she held the knife out in front of her and pushed the button. The small plastic handle morphed into a hilt and a 12 inch bronze blade shot out the other end. 

Barely pausing to process the fact that, yes, her pocket knife could in fact turn into a sword, she raised it above her head and charged at the monster, mind set on one thing; she was not gonna watch another one of her friends die. Despite the weight of the sword, it felt natural in her hand, as though she had been made for this. She swung at the fingers wrapped around Connie and ducked as the giant’s other hand reached out for her. 

Connie managed to stagger to his feet and back away several yards. The giant turned to try and retrieve it’s escaped meal, and that’s when Annie struck. She jumped onto the back of the giant, driving her blade deep into it’s back and she held on for dear life, eyes watering at the stench. 

The giant let out an inhuman scream and frantically began clawing at it’s own back trying to dislodge. Just then Connie managed to retrieve his pipes and began to play once more.The pine trees sprung back to life, preventing Annie from being knocked off the monster’s back. 

She wrenched the blade out of the monster’s back and aimed at the back of it’s neck. She slashed with all her remaining strength and managed the lop the giants head clean off. It let out another pained scream before it burst into dust. Annie kicked at the pile around her feet and then spit at it. 

“That one’s for Marcel. Fuck you.”

Connie looked up at her in surprise, “Uh you could have told me you knew how to use a sword.”

She shrugged, which made some monster dust fall out of her bangs.

“C’mon then. Camp’s right up this hill.”

-

The view from the top of Half Blood Hill was something to behold. Buildings fanning out down below, interspersed with strawberry fields, an arena and a lake. Connie and her fight had caught the attention of several campers, and they were milling around near the entrance to camp. 

She realised she must be something of a sight, covered in blood and monster dust but she refused to let the stares get to her. Something touched her shoulder and assuming it was a monster she did what any rational person would do: grabbed it and judo flipped it over her shoulder. 

To her relief and then subsequently embarrassment, it was not a monster but a skinny tan kid about her age. He sat up, rubbing the back of his head and mumbling. Great. Another person who was going to hate her. But instead, the boy gave her a friendly, lopsided grin and said, 

“Shit. That’s a hell of a hello.”

He clambered to his feet and stuck out his hand, “Eren Yeager. Son of Nike. Didn’t mean to scare you. Welcome to camp. Also, I call dibs on you joining our team for capture the flag.”

She took his hand and replied, “Annie Leonhardt. I don’t know who my dad is.”

“Maybe Zeus with chops like that. Shit, you’re gonna have to show me that move.”  
then he called over her shoulder, “Hey, Mikasa? Did you see that? She could totally be your sister.”

Annie turned to see who Eren was speaking to and from the look the other girl was giving her, you would’ve thought she’s just kicked a baby. Mikasa’s eyes felt like they were burning a hole in Annie’s hoodie. Her eyes seemed to spark with dangerous, uncontrollable electricity. 

She smirked, and not in the nice way, 

“Yeah Annie, why don’t you teach those moves to me as well.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lemme know what you think.   
> Again, my tumblr is @Conniespringers


	3. Relax, I'm Just Kid-ing

If you asked her later, Annie would probably feel at least a little bad about what she had said next. But at the time her adrenaline filled haze seemed to prevent her from thinking at all. Without missing a beat she flatly replied, 

“I wonder about that, these moves are intended for humans. I really don’t think someone like you needs them. But I’m curious if they work on a beast.”

This seemed to stun Mikasa into silence. It seemed to Annie that Mikasa wasn’t the type alot of people talked back to. The anger in the other girl’s grey eyes glinted steely sharp. She forgot they still had a crowd of onlookers until a girl with curly hair let out a whoop of laughter. 

“Holy shit, the new kid’s got guts. She fuckin told you Mikasa. Holy shit.”

The reaction seemed to only piss off Mikasa more, as the sky started to become cloudy and thunder rumbled ominously in the distance. Connie let out a nervous cough and attempted to defuse the situation, 

“Well then, anyway. Hitch? How about you and I show Annie around the camp. We can stop by your cabin and get her some clothes to change into.”

He placed both his hands on Annie’s shoulders and forcefully turned her away from the stare down neither of them had yet broken. 

“Annie, c’mon.”

The trio walked down the hill, with Hitch still laughing.

She turned to Annie and said, “Holy shit, no one talks back to Ackerman. I think we’re gonna be good friends.”

She pointed to the most average looking cabin in the valley.It had no barbed wire, or green flames or marble pillars. It looked like a totally normal cabin you’d find at any summer camp.

“That’s where you’ll be staying. Until you get claimed, anyway. Hermes cabin. He’s my dad.  
There’s quite a few of us, so it should be no trouble finding you something clean to wear.”

Connie saluted then said “I have to go report to Mr. D. Hitch, will you bring her up the big house once she’s cleaned up.”

Hitch nodded, “Sure thing, kid. Get it? Kid? Cause baby goats.”

Connie sighed dramatically, “Gee, I’ve never heard that one before.”

Annie watched him go, silently amazed at the speed he was able to move without his prosthetic legs. Hitch nudged her shoulder and gestured for Annie to follow her into the cabin.  
Inside, about 10 kids lounged on the bunks, all in matching camp t-shirts like the ones Hitch and Connie wore. 

Some of the younger ones stared but most seemed disinterested. Maybe they get alot of new people around here. Almost as if Hitch had read her mind, she noted, 

“We get all the unclaimed kids here, at least for a while. Don't worry, you don’t look as bad as some of the new arrivals.”

Annie noticed that, although they didn’t look all that similar, all the campers in the Hermes cabin shared Hitches sharp nose and mischievous grin. She bent down down to one of the drawers underneath a bunk and began rifling through the clothes.

“C’mon, you can change in Ymir’s room.These should work for the time being” Hitch handed her a bright orange shirt and a pair of her own cut offs.  
“Plus I need to talk to her about the pool.”

Silently, Annie doubted the shorts would fit, Hitch was something of a twig and she didn;t see any good in pointing that out. After all, this girl was being entirely nicer than she had to be instead, she asked,

“The pool?”

“Yeah, we run a betting pool on who new arrivals parents are. Usually, god’s claim their children at the nightly campfire but sometimes it takes longer. But I get the advantage of talking to you.”

She winked and Annie rolled her eyes. Hitch, threw the door open without bothering to knock, shouting, “If Tori is in there with you, y’all better cover your important bits, I got a new camper here!”

Luckily, there was just one person sitting on the bed. A tall girl, with dark skin, darker hair and freckles, 

She protested, “Gods that was one time. And if you didn’t refuse to knock, like an asshol, this wouldn’t be an issue.”

She then turned her eyes on Annie, ton completely changing, smile slipping into place where a half pout had just been.

“Ah, fresh meat?”, she said, raising an eyebrow

Now it was Hitch’s turn to roll her eyes, she elbowed Annie in the ribs and said with a smile, or was it a smirk? That was another trait all these kids shared

“Don’t let old freckle face fool you. She’s hopelessly in love with her girlfriend Historia. Totally whipped and totally harmless. This is Annie, by the way. Now, ‘Mir, about the bets on this one. I bet she’s a daughter of Aphrodite.”

Annie thought of the last time she’d looked in a mirror. It had been at a Mcdonalds, more days ago than she cared to count but she could remember what she looked like. Stringy, pale blond hair her mother used to insist was “the color of corn silk”, what desperately needed washing, too pale skin, ice blue eyes ringed with dark circles from lack of sleep. Yeah, she wasn’t winning any beauty pageants.

Ymir groaned and threw herself back on her bed, “Jesus Hitch, you’ve gotta stop using that line when you’re trying to pick people up it’s soo fuckin lame.”

“And it’s my dad anyway.”, Annie interjected 

Ymir half stifled a laugh, “See Annie’s too smart for your shit anyway, Hitch.”

There was a beat of silence and Ymir got up, and said, “We’ll wait outside so you can change.”

She grabbed Hitch’s arm, who seemed reluctant to leave and pulled her out the door, letting it slam behind her. The room seemed almost too quiet without the two bickering. Still, it was nice to be alone for once. 

She stripped off her hoodie which she decided would probably never return to it's original shade of white what with the general street grime, and monster blood and tugged on the new shirt. She had to admit, the color reminded her a little of a prisoners uniform but prisons are meant to kept people in, not keep monsters out. 

Next were her grimy jeans, She’s been right about Hitch’s cut offs. They hugged her thighs a little more tightly than she was comfortable with, but still, it was nice to be clean. She should probably ask about a shower too, or deodorant, she realised. After her run this morning, on top of having lived outdoors for so long, she must smell pretty rank. Connie and Hitch were nice not to have mentioned it.  
She pushed the door open, half expecting Hitch to have ditched her when she had the chance but the pair was leaning up against the wall quietly conversing. They both looked up when she exited Ymir’s room. 

‘We’re wanted in the big house.”, said Hitch

Annie felt a twinge in her stomach at the name.


	4. I'm Dyin-ysus

Mr. D did live up to his name, Annie decided. He was, in fact, a massive dick. When they had gotten to the big house, she wondered why he’s even asked them to come. He couldn’t seem to care less about anything they said. 

Even as Connie excitedly recounted the events of the day, the scruffy man towering before them looked like he was about to start snoring at any minute. Except for his stature, it was nearly impossible to imagine this man as a god. 

All the illustrations Annie had seen in museums and library books painted greek gods as these mighty, bearded men, knotted with muscle and women so beautiful you couldn’t help but stare but here he was, Dionysus himself, looking more like the worst drunk she knew, who slept in the alley behind the liquor store.

“You should of seen it, she didn’t even look scared. Just jumped on the monster's back and holy shit. No sword training either.”, Connie said excitedly

“Oh. That’s nice.”

“Then when I found her, she was out running a cyclopes. I have never seen one that big. Not to mention she tried to fight me with only a pocket knife.”

“That’s terrific.”

“Also Annie’s hair is on fire. We were hoping you knew what to do.”, Ymir added

“Well I’m sure she’ll fit in here quite nicely.”

Hitch shot her a look that said, “don’t feel bad, he’s always like this” but Annie didn’t mind, not really, anyway. Hitch had explained to her on the way to the big house that Mr. D was not there of his own volition and how Zeus was punishing him for not being able to keep it in his pants. 

As she started zoning out, ignoring the words still charging from Connie’s mouth, another person entered the room. Half person, anyway. A centaur, middle aged by the looks of him with wispy brown hair, thinning around the edges.  
When he spoke, his voice was deep and booming but not unpleasantly so. He walked towards Annie with his hand outstretched for a shake,

“Ah, you must be the new arrival. I trust Connie got you here alright. It’s nice to make your acquaintance. I’m Chiron. Director of camp activities.”

She extended her hand and said, “Annie.”

His grip was warm and firm. Although both he and Mr. D shared some similarities in appearance (aside from the half horse part of Chiron), she hadn’t met two more different individuals. It was a wonder that they worked together at all. 

“I see Hitch got you set up in the Hermes cabin, I assume you know how the claiming process works. Also, that fight with the giant, quite impressive for someone with no training, you certainly have guts, Annie. I’m sure you’ll fit in here just splendidly.”

He turned to Mr D. and cocked his head, almost like a child, and asked, “Have you taken her to the infirmary yet?”

And for all of Mr. D’s previous disinterest, he managed to muster enough to look Chiron in the face and shrug.

“You kids taken..uh..taken..um.. the new kid to be checked out?”

Connie slapped himself in the forehead, judging from the sound of the smack, quite hard

“Oh duh, sorry.”

To Annie, he said, “Sorry, I’m kind of new at this. I didn’t even check if you were hurt. Are you? Camp infirmary is just upstairs.”

Annie shook her head but Chiron insisted, 

“You should really go get checked out. The adrenaline of a fight can be enough to keep you going but after it wears off, you never know what state you’ll be in. Go on, it’s just up the stairs. First door on the right.”

He gestured to the staircase through the doorway and she followed his gaze. She took the stairs and from the sound of the footsteps behind her, all three were following her. Annie pushed open the door and found herself in a brightly lit room alot like the free clinics for homeless teenagers she had gone to during her time on the streets. 

Cots separated by white curtains lined both sides of the room and more teenagers, demigods, she supposed, hurriedly flitted from bed to bed. One boy, blonde and hugely muscular, sitting in the back looked up at the group and straightened from where he was sorting medical supplies and came towards them at an alarming speed.  
He addressed Ymir, Hitch, and Connie by name before suffocating them in a rib crushing hug that lifted them off the ground before settling in front of Annie. His hands were on his hips as he smiled down and her. She had to crane her head up to look him in the face. If she didn’t he face was even with about his ribcage

His voice was booming but sounded friendly, “Hey there! New camper? My name is Reiner. Son of Iris so I’m rainbow in more ways than one.”

At that, he reached over her to high five Ymir. 

“So what’s your name? And what brings you to the infirmary.”

Before she could say anything, Connie started in for her

“This is Annie. She saved my ass from a giant right outside camp. You should’ve seen it, man. Holy shit. She jumped on the things back and stabbed it with her super epic collapsible sword and..”

Reiner was attentive in every way Mr. D wasn’t. His face spelled out exactly what he was feeling and he nodded along emphatically with Connie’s blow by blow

Connie trailed off then looked at Annie, “Are you hurt?”

She shook her head, looking down at herself, “I don’t think so.”

He nodded understandingly, “I get that. Still, worth it to get you checked out.”

Reiner lead her over to one of the abandoned cots and pulled the curtain shut. He proceeded to poke, prod, and squeeze all of her limbs. He kept a running commentary on what he was doing, 

“First, I’m checking from broken bones or sprains. Tell me if anything hurts, just give a shout.”

He stopped then stood up from where he was squatting to check her legs. 

“I’m a guy so I’m not gonna check anything else. Don’t wanna make you uncomfortable for  
anything. I’m just gonna give you some ambrosia to help you recover a little faster. Ambrosia is the food of the gods, if you didn't know that. You’ve gotta be careful though, too much and it’ll cook you from the inside out.”

She took the piece he handed her and tentatively gnawed on it and was surprised to find it tasted just like the peaches her mother had grown in their backyard. Juice even dripped down the back of her throat.

Reiner looked at he curiously before asking, “It tastes like your fondest memory. So what does it taste like?”  
“Peaches.”

He nodded thoughtfully then leaned out from behind the curtain to nod at the trio who was still waiting for her. The curtain pulled back and he patted her shoulder,

“If anything starts bugging you, be sure and come back. It’s no trouble at all.”

They made their way out the door after saying their goodbyes to Reiner. 

Annie asked, “You think there's anyway I could have a shower.”

A laugh burst out of Hitch like a shot.

“Damn, I bet you’d be too nervous to ask.”

She pulled a couple gold coins from her pocket and dropped them into Ymir’s waiting hands.  
Annie realised she must have looked totally lost cause Ymir explained without her having to ask, 

“Drachmas. Useful around here for the camp shop and Iris messaging.”

Connie jumped in, “You can use a rainbow and Reiner’s mom will send a message to anyone for you. Kinda like skype, ancient Greek style.”

She nodded again and it occurred to, certainly her not for the last time that she had alot to learn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr is @Conniespringers  
> Forgive the terrible chapter titles, I hate when they're just numbers
> 
> As always Kudos are the bomb but comments are even better. 
> 
> Feel free to place bets on Annie's parentage. The winner will get something special.


	5. Sinner Dinner

Dinner at Camp Halfblood was a lively affair, to say the least. Annie was seated in between Hitch and Ymir at the Hermes table as excited campers buzzed about. The tables were arranged similarly to the cabins, with one for each god. Annie was surprised to see several tables empty while the Hermes table was teaming with campers. 

After Ymir had explained how they worked, she had been endlessly fascinated with the goblets. She said of water and the cup filled, Dr. Pepper and there it was. Next she tried vodka but the glass stayed stubbornly empty. 

Hitch shoved her affectionately and said, “Yeah, I think everyone tries that.”

The smell of the sea wafted through the open pavilion and Annie realised for the first time, in a long time, that she felt happy. But good things didn’t seem to last for her and when she looked up, her eyes were met with stormy grey ones. Mikasa sat alone at the Zeus table and clearly had not forgotten about the insult. 

It was bizarre to Annie. If anyone had the right to be angry it was Eren but when she looked over, he waved at her happily from the Nike table. It was just her luck that she’d accidentally injure the one kid at this camp with a homicidal girlfriend. 

Ymir must have noticed Mikasa looking at their table because she looked at Annie questioningly. Up close, her face was sprinkled with freckles that made Annie think of the stars. 

Ymir asked in her usual blunt fashion, “What’s got Mikasa’s panties in a wad?”

Annie felt herself blushing slightly, “I may have judo flipped her boyfriend, then accused her of not being human.”

Ymir looked startled, “Damn tiny, I didn’t think you had it in you. Her boyfriend?”

“Yeah, Eren.”

Hitch giggled, “Silly. That’s her brother. Kind of. Adopted.”

Well that explained Mikasa’s porcelain complexion compared to Eren’s darker, turkish one.

“That may have been worse than hurting her boyfriend though. She’s crazy protective of him. I don’t know about you but I’m not anxious to have all of Zeus’ fury rain down on me.”

Annie nodded, “Eren said I might be a child of Zeus. That’ll suck if she hates me.”

Hitch and Ymir peered at her

“I can see you being Zeus’s kid with those eyes.”

“And that hair.”

“Have you ever changed the weather?”

“Yeah, made it stormy with your mood?”

“Or electrocuted anyone?”

“Can you fly? Mikasa can fly. It’s wicked cool.”

A little stunned by the onslaught of questions, Annie replied, “Uh, no, no, no, and definitely not.”

Hitch looked a little crestfallen

“Damn, I really want someone to take Mikasa off her high horse.”

“Why?”, Annie asked

“Because she’s the only child of Zeus and she’s so perfect. Basically nobody can beat her. And maybe if you were her sister, you’d be like that too.”

Annie shrugged, “I doubt it. I’m nothing special really.”

She was just about to take a bite of her pizza when Hitch shot her hand out and cried “Wait”

At Annie’s confused look she continued, “You have to give offerings to the gods. The best part of your meal. They like the smell of burnt food or something like that. Go give your dad something and ask him to claim you tonight at campfire.” 

She pointed to the brazier burning in the center of the room where several other kids were presenting offerings.

With something akin to hopefulness, Annie got up from her seat and walked over to the bronze brazier in the center of the dining hall. She felt a little bit stupid but she squeezed her eyes shut anyway and thought,

“If you’re listening, dad, it’s be great if you could claim me or whatever. So here’s some pizza. I don’t know what you like.”

She dropped the slice into the fire and paused for a second. When nothing happened, she turned on heel and nearly ran face first into Eren.

“Hey, Annie! You should sit with us at the campfire tonight.”

He gestured with his thumb to a kid, slightly shorter than him with shoulder length blonde hair and huge eyes. 

The kid gave a little wave and said, “I’m Armin. My mom’s Athena.”

Annie swallowed, a little taken aback by just how friendly this guy was even after she’d flipped him. It’d be nice to get to know some more people but the possibility of sitting anywhere near Mikasa didn’t exactly scare her per say, but it really wasn’t something she would look forward   
to. Before she could respond, Eren beckoned for her to follow him. 

“C’mon, let me introduced you to some people.”

She followed him and Armin who made their way over to the Demeter table where Eren patted the back of a freckled kid with dark hair and dimples.

“This is Marco. His mom’s Demeter if you couldn’t tell already.”

Marco smiled and raised his hand in greeting before picking his fork up and continuing in on his fruit salad. Annie admired the kid’s guts. He was wearing a crown of daisies. She’d be far too scared of being teased to ever do something like that. 

Until she realised, the daisies were braided into his dark hair, they were actually growing out of his head. In fact, he even had a few peaking out of the collar of his Camp Halfblood shirt. She looked at the other kids and noticed not all of them had similar flora on their body but a couple did. A girl with buds on her arms, a pudgy kid with blades of grass interspersed with his hair. 

Eren didn’t even seem to bat and eye though, as he grabbed Annie’s arm, cheekily asking, 

“Not gonna flip me again are you?” 

He pulled her over to the next table, this one belonging to Aphrodite. It was filled with the most beautiful people Annie had ever seen. It was hard to believe that she was related to any of them. 

Eren tapped the shoulder of a tiny little blonde thing, maybe even shorter than Annie. When the girl turned, she smiled sweetly which made her huge eyes light up like fireworks. 

“Oh hello Eren, Armin. And you must be the new camper. My name is Historia but you can call me Tori if you like.”

So this was Ymir’s Tori. Annie understood damn well why Ymir was whipped. Tori waved goodbye to them as he continued pulling her across the room. Annie looked up, wondering what Mikasa must think of all this. 

When she met the other girl’s eyes, she wished she hadn’t. Meeting her eyes felt like getting hit with volts of static shock. Annie wondered if that was a Zeus thing or if she was just imagining things. But just then she ran into something hard. It turned out to be Eren’s back. 

He’d just run into another kid who he was now getting into a yelling match with. Armin leaned over and said, 

“That’s Jean. Child of Hebe, goddess of youth. Him and Eren are always getting into it.”

Jean and Eren just kept at it, slowly getting louder and louder. Armin sighed like “this? again? really?”

He leaned over again and half shouted so he could be heard over the din, “Do you wanna go to the fire pit? Bonfire should be starting soon.”

-

Most of the campers were already seated around the bonfire by the time they got there because Armin had to stop by the Athena cabin to grab a book. Luckily, Eren has saved them seats right at the front. A couple of satyrs and nymphs were at the front of the crowd leading a rousing chorus of take me out to the ball game.

As soon as they picked their way through the crowd and found their seats, it went deadly quiet. Annie turned to Armin, questioning look on her face, wondering what was wrong but was meet with a look of complete and utter shock, staring at a point about 6 inches above her head. 

The only sound to break the silence was Ymir’s shout of, “Holy shit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously. Like this is a contest. If you can guess Annie's parentage, request a oneshot, or get side chapter about a character/ship of your choice. It'll be fun.


	6. Annie Leonhardt Just Might Pass Out More Than Jason Grace (Maybe)

“Holy shit.”

That was the last thing Annie heard before she blacked out. 

She sat up groaning but when she looked down at herself, she was back in her grimy hoodie. Her legs were tangled in her sleeping bag and she was underneath her makeshift shelter where the dumpster lid leaned against the wall. 

She half thought the past days had been a dehydration induced dream but there was a shadowy figure looming above her. She kicked her feet out of the bag and jammed her hand into her pocket for the knife. She bared her teeth and thrust the sword out in front of her.

“What do want?”, she snarled

But the figure just chuckled at her. The air around her felt weighty and something about this person made her incredibly uneasy. Annie lunged forward off her knees, swinging her weapon wildly. This went against every lesson she had been taught but she wanted nothing more than to kill this thing. 

But every lung made the figure more distant, the walls of the alley slowly melting out into a field. One she recognised. Between her and the figure was a 6 year old Annie and her mother. Her child self was crying, having fallen out of one of the taller peach trees in the orchard. 

Her mother’s face glowed as she smiled, gently wrapping up the gash stretching up the child’s leg. How come she had never noticed that? The figure let out another gentle chuckle as the scene began to fade again. 

“Finally having a realisation, Annie?”, the figure said in a low voice

The new scene that faded in and this Annie was a little older, maybe eight. The trainer that had started coming around the house was egging her on.He kept repeating, again, again, never offering any praise or encouragement.  
She had been so klutzy, she swung with her fist at the man who managed to dodge at the last second. She remembered what came next. And on cue the child began to cry, hot angry tears of frustration. 

“I can’t do it. I’m no good at this.”, she said, angrily kicking the ground

The man looked at her with cold, emotionless eyes. 

“You will need this one day. Now, again.”

The scene faded a third time and reformed back in her childhood home. This Annie was maybe 12 this time. She opened the door and called for her mother. Annie knew what was coming next and she squeezed her eyes shut and counted to 30 but that couldn’t block out the scream that followed. 

It was ear piercing and guttural. She remembered how it had made her throat feel. She knew right now her younger self was frantically trying to revive her mother’s lifeless body to no avail. 

“Why are you showing me this?”, she half screamed at the figure

“Patience.”, it replied

The door banged open and her trainer half ran into the room. His eyes showed the most emotion Annie had ever seen and he shouted Annie’s names several times. He took the stairs two at a time and the figure cocked it’s head and gestured at the stairs like, “after you”. 

In a dream like daze she followed him up the stairs and was met again with her mother’s bloody lifeless body. Like she hadn’t seen it every night for the past years in her dreams. Her twelve year old self was still bent over the body, hugging it. 

She watched him move across the room and his face contorted into something akin with grief before being rearranged back into neutral. Her trainer physically pulled her away and she let out a shudder that Annie felt in her chest. 

The man held her arms to her sides as she kicked him trying to get away. After several seconds she stopped struggling and he let her go. He said, 

“You have to go. Your mother had a bag packed for you. It’s under the floorboards under the kitchen rugs. Go. Now. Run.”

Her younger self stared at him unmoving and he did something she had no recollection of. He pulled her against him into a tight hug and whispered, barely audibly,

“Even if the whole world hates you, your father is the one person who is on your side. So promise me, that you will return here.”

She didn’t want to relive this so she turned to the shadowy figure and coldly asked, 

“What do you want from me?”

The image was already starting to fade and she could feel herself starting to wake up

“I think you know.”

She woke with a start. Gingerly, she tried to sit up. Her camp t-shirt stuck to her with cold sweat. Good job flying under the radar, Annie, she thought to herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter to guess Annie's parentage. Cast your votes, people.


	7. Carry On, Mikasa

When her vision finally came back into focus, Annie realised she was back in the infirmary. She tried to sit up but her head was pounding so hard it felt like the world was spinning. So instead she laid back and focused on not puking up everything she’d eaten at dinner. 

Hitch was standing to the left of her cot and puking on cute girls was not a good way to keep them talking to you. As she stirred the people surrounding her noticed and all started talking to her at once, 

“How is that even-”

“Two symbols that’s never-”

“Connie’s getting Chiron-”

“How did you not die getting to camp like-

“Monsters should be all over-”

“Never. I’ve never-”

“In my 6 years here-”

“ENOUGH!”, Chiron’s voice boomed over the throng of Demigods effectively cutting through the chatter

“Let me see the symbols.”

Chiron looked at her with a semi perplexed look on his face. He then nodded as if accepting this new development.

“Well then. Someone take her to her cabin. Don’t all you start talking at her at once. This is overwhelming enough without being bombarded with questions.”

By this point Annie was getting slightly annoyed. She just wanted someone to tell her what the hell was going on. She looked at the foot of her bed where Eren was standing. She gave him a questioning look but he just stood there with his mouth open. 

Evidently he wasn’t great at picking up on hints. So she turned to Hitch and asked, “So who’s my dad?”

Hitch scoffed, “More like who’s your mom and dad. And here.”

She pulled a compact out of her pocket and showed Annie the glowing symbols above her head.

“The skull is obvious. Looks like your Dad is Hades. But this,” she tipped the compact so it was focused on the symbol below the skull, “this is what everyone was losing their shit over. That’s the symbol for Kronos.” 

Chiron was nodding once again, “Since you’re not immortal, that must make your mother a child of Kronos and a mortal. Quite the lineage.”

Annie just looked at all of them, flicked her eyes from person to person. Great. So not only was she a freak who got attacked by monsters, she was a freak among the freaks who got attacked by monsters. 

Chiron spoke up again, “If I recall correctly, Ymir, you have a cabin and a pool to get back to. You too, Historia.”

The pair were practically attached with their arms locked in a half embrace, and Historias head leaning on Ymir’s arm. They looked slightly crestfallen but nodded and they left, each giving her a little wave. 

“Armin, I need you to go make sure the Athena cabin gets some sleep tonight. Gods know they’ll want to talk about this all night.”

He waved and gave her a reassuring smile.

“And Connie, go make sure the dryads aren’t starting any rumors. You know how they are and we don’t want this getting out of hand.”

“Sure thing. See ya, Annie.”

It felt oddly quiet as the sound of Connie’s hooves faded off down the stairs. This left just Hitch and Eren as well as a nervous Reiner who Chiron gave a pointed look. He tipped his head at her and bid a hasty retreat.

“Now, Hitch, Eren, if you could take Annie to her cabin, and get her settled, I would be most grateful. I have to make sure the camp isn’t falling into chaos.”  
They both nodded and exchanged a look before each taking one of her arms. 

“You don’t need to do that, I’m fine. Really. I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? You hit your head pretty hard.”, Hitch said gently

“Yeah, Annie. Mikasa had to carry you here.”, Eren added

“Mikasa carried me?”

“Yeah, she reacted before anyone had time to do anything. Scooped you up bridal style and flew you up here. It was pretty funny actually, now that I think about it.” Hitch said with a laugh

Just when she thought her day couldn’t get any more mortifying.

-

As they walked down the hill, Eren and Hitch didn’t hold her up but they stuck pretty close to her sides. And as much as she didn’t want to admit it, she was very grateful for this. Her head was still spinning something awful and this close she could smell the sweetness of Hitch’s shampoo. Something floral, lilacs maybe, or honeysuckle or-

She was snapped out of her musings by a gentle bump from Eren’s shoulder. 

“Did you not hear me? I asked if you could guess which cabin was for children of Hades.”

They were now surrounded on all sides by cabins and she scanned her eyes over them. One almost glowed silver in the moonlight, one with barbed wire, one with a flag sporting a Nike swoosh and just do it blowing out in front. 

She wracked her brain for the things she’d been taught about Greek mythology. That was the closest she’d ever seen her trainer to excited. He talked relentlessly when she was doing well in training, telling her of heroes and how she’d be great like that one day. One day. 

However, her fall seemed to have significantly addled her brains so she just shrugged lamely. 

“Uh, that one.”, Hitch pointed

“Jesus fuck.”

“Jesus fuck is right.”, Hitch giggled

Annie hadn’t realised she’d said that out loud but in front of her was an shining obsidian building, with green flaming braziers flanking the walls. Above the door hung a huge skull. 

Just once, she’d have liked to be normal. The average Hermes cabin looked pretty damn good right now. Eren refrained from comment, probably out of politeness. Still he gestured,

“C’mon. We’ll take you inside.”

The trio pushed open the heavy doors and Annie was impressed that, yes, the inside was just as bad as the outside. There were several coffin shaped beds pushed against the walls, made up with red sheets. And most unnerving of all, against the back wall was a shrine of sorts, piled with bones and jewels.

“This looks like an emo 14 year old designed it.”, Annie said flatly

“Well, that’s accurate. Home sweet home.”, Hitch twirled her hair and twisted her toe on the floor nervously

“It’s...not that bad. Maybe add some more lighting? New sheets?”, Eren said weakly

She appreciated him trying to help but really nothing could make this situation better. She nodded at the two of them, silently thanking them from sticking around. Jamming her hand into her pocket she fished out her pocket knife and put it on one of the bedside tables. 

“Do you want me to stick around with you tonight?” Hitch said, her eyes glimmering with, was that hope? Annie shook her head. She must be concussed.

“If you don’t mind.”

“Pshhh, it’s no problem at all. We can pretend we’re vampires.”

She stuck her arms out in front of her and bared her teeth, “I vant to suck your bvlood!”  
Eren laughed appreciatively and clapped her on the back a couple times.

 

“I’ll let you two be then. Sleep tight.”

Hitch looked over at Annie, smirk back in place

“Careful. You might wake up with bite marks.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So congrats to Gawain and Lionhearted. Please leave a comment letting me know the character or ship of your choice (within reason).  
> And as always, comments are most appreciated.


	8. Burning Desire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry it's not like smut or anything. Honestly, I couldn't think of a better pun

Though her dreams, like most demi-gods, often had a penchant for being prophetic, sometimes dreams were just dreams. At least, that was what Annie told herself when she woke the next morning. Not every dream meant something. 

But what she had seen last night was chilling. More giants than she could count were lumbering around the the flaming forest. In the center of them all stood a huge creature,that towered above the giants, one that no matter how hard she tried to look directly at, it seemed to swim to the corners of her vision. 

It was massive, and even though she couldn’t actually see it, she could tell it stood high above the burning treeline. Demi-gods were scattered around the base of the inferno but they didn’t look prepared. Firelight danced on terrified faces. 

Some of them wore armor but even those who did seemed to have been woken in the middle of the night. Most still were wearing pajamas, some even had pillow creases on their faces. Several shouted orders to the others over the din. 

She was able to pick out Mikasa, sword in hand hovering several feet in the air. Her face was schooled into a determined grimace as she wheeled on a group of cowering campers. She looked closer and saw what had them so freaked out. 

It was the body of a boy, one she recognized from the demeter table who had been growing plants right out of his body, Marlo, Marco, something like that, with half his body missing as if it had been eaten, the flesh was charred and she could almost smell it. 

Mikasa was attempting to shield the body from view but seemed decide that would be little use. Instead, she began to yell. Annie still remember the exact words Mikasa had shouted at the top of her lungs, 

“I am strong! Stronger than all of you! Extremely strong! I can kill all of the monsters out there! Even if I am alone!”. 

She rocketed higher into the air, apparently satisfied that she had rallied the scared demi-gods to fight. Then, the image seemed to fall away to blackness and a voice, one she recognized but couldn’t quite place echoed in her mind, 

“Join us, Annie. You aren’t like the rest of these half-breeds. You know who you are inside. Join us, or watch everyone you love burn.” 

She didn’t know quite what the make of everything she had seen, but frankly, it was all incredibly unnerving. Annie knew she had to tell someone so she sat up in bed. Suddenly, the coffin beds and black walls of the cabin didn’t seem like such a big deal. 

Everyone she loved burning. She looked over at Hitch who was still snoring slightly, which despite her growing terror, Annie was able to appreciate as pretty damn adorable. Honestly, she barely knew these people. 

So why did she feel so guilty at the idea of raining destruction down on them. She was the daughter of death after all. Maybe that was all she was good for. What was she supposed to do? 

Was the dream the future and unavoidable or was there a way she could stop it from happening? She didn’t want to think about what would happen next. There was no way the demigods could win that fight, and they all knew it. 

But joining who, exactly. There was no use bringing panic over something she didn’t even know all the much about, she decided. Best to keep this to herself for the moment. She carefully pulled her shoes on, careful not to make too much noise and wake Hitch. 

She grabbed her knife and crept out of the cabin. The early morning sun was reflecting off the golden Apollo cabin so brightly it was almost blinding. She turned away from the light as spotted Armin sitting on a bench in front of the Athena cabin, deeply engrossed in a book. 

He was friendly and Eren liked him but Annie had never been a social butterfly. Still, she found herself walking over to him. He put his book down on his lap and gestured to the spot next to him.

“Good morning, Annie. Care for a seat?”

She nodded and sat down next to him. One would think he and Annie would look remarkably similar as they both sported blonde hair and blue eyes but Armin’s hair reminded Annie of straw or the color of wheat whereas hers was so pale, it was nearly white. 

Same with the eyes. When she looked into his it was like looking out onto the ocean, she’d always thought hers were far more like ice. 

Without thinking, she blurted it out, “Your eyes remind me of the ocean.”

Armin chuckled and pushed his hair back behind his ear, “Thank you! I like yours too. The remind me of the edges of the sky.”

That was a much nicer way of looking at it, she thought. Ice was cold and distant, but the sky, well. That was cold and distant too, really. Still. No one really bothered to compliment her and she was grateful. All this ran through her mind but instead she nodded at the book on his lap and said, 

“What’re you reading?”

“It’s called Thus Spoke the Zarathustra. It’s by Friedrich Nietzsche. Famous child of Athena”

“So the whole ‘God is dead’ thing wasn’t profound. It just meant there was no one god.”

“Something like that. I’m impressed that you know that.”

He then hurriedly added, “Not that you’re dumb or anything. Or that I’m bragging about my knowledge. It’s just most demigods don’t do a whole lot of reading. Dyslexia and everything.”

“Mm yeah, that makes sense. I don’t know what a Zarathustra is though.”

“More like who. 6th century persian religious scholar. Wrote some profound stuff.”

“Well then.”

The conversation seemed to come to a close, as so many of Annie’s did. She was awkward with words. Everything she said seemed to come out too blunt and forceful so mostly she refrained from speaking but this silence seemed different from most. 

It wasn’t muggy and strange. It was just quiet, and that comforted her. Armin was a comforting presence. And incredibly smart, she had realised. He might be just the person to talk to about her dream. 

But as she was gathering the words to explain what was troubling her, Someone else sat down on the other side of her. She’d been so engrossed in her thoughts she hadn’t even noticed Eren appear. 

He gave her a beaming smile then handed her a cup of steaming coffee.

“I got this for Mikasa but it looks like you could use it more. Feeling okay?”

She gratefully accepted the drink and nodded. It was warm and she was feeling far more at home here between the two boys than she had in a very long while. She felt somthing like affection for them bubbling in her chest. 

The words from her dream echoed in her head again. 

“Join us, or watch everyone you love burn.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lionhearted, tell me what you want my guy.   
> Also, still love comments and kudos. If you have suggestions, let me know. You can hit me up on my tumblr @conniespringers. I love making new friends (:


	9. Annie and Mikasa Sitting in a Tree

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is super long. Sorry bout that.

Camp halfblood was far more like a regular summer camp than Annie had expected. Aside from the pegasus, nymphs darting through the forest, and sword training. Speaking of which, a bronze blade shot past her helmet. 

She had dodged the sword on instinct but the sudden jarring movement brought her back to reality. Her opponent, a girl named Mina who was only a few inches taller than Annie wound up to take another swing. In alot of ways her form was messy. 

Annie supposed this was because she was a child of Demeter. Growing flowers all day probably doesn’t do much for one’s sword play. She glanced left and immediately ate her words. The boy from her dream, Marco, looked surprisingly deadly as he swung his sword incredibly fast at Jean. 

One final strike knocked the blade from Jean’s hand and Marco ascended on him menacingly, eyes glinting with glee. His face broke into a smile and he offered Jean a hand and pulled him up from the ground. To the left of them Eren and Reiner sparred, all fury and swishing blades while Mikasa watched on. 

Another blow glanced off her breastplate and she was once more brought back to reality. Annie knew she was better than Mina, so she carefully chose a spot in the center of Mina’s chest, fainted left, shudder stepped and swung the edge of her sword hard. 

The clang echoed through the pavilion and before she could react 20 plus pairs of eyes were on her and the sputtering Mina sprawled out on the ground. Reiner immediately dropped his weapon and ran to her side. He helped her sit up before turning his eyes on Annie.

“I- I- I- I’m sorry. I didn’t mean-”

But where she expected anger, or maybe disdain his eyes were more soft, with something more akin to pride.

“I think you need a new partner, huh?”

“I- I- uh I guess. Mina, I didn’t mean to. Sorry. I-”

Mina groaned, “It’s okay, Annie. You didn’t mean to.”

But she had meant to. Her trainer had taught her ever since she was young, have no mercy, go in for the kill. This principle was ingrained in her and she had meant to. How fucked up was that? She knew she could beat Mina but still. 

Reiner threw his arm around her shoulders and pulled Annie to her feet.

“Let’s see how you do on the defensive. Eren, you attack her with me.”

Eren shuffled over, semi-reluctantly, smiling sheepishly

“I dunno Reiner, she bested me pretty good last time.”

Still he got into position, shifting his weight from foot to foot until a surprisingly small hand squeezed his shoulder. 

“How about we duel instead?”, Mikasa asked calmly

Her eyes look less stormy than the last time they’d met but they still held a power that Annie didn’t much want to tangle with. Not that she would ever admit it. So she schooled her face into an impassive expression, maybe even bored and shrugged.

“Yeah, sure.”  
Mikasa swung her sword around, then swished it left and right. The muscles on her arm shifted under her skin and Annie had to admit it was more than a little distracting.   
Mikasa seemed to notice her staring and smiled slightly, when she spoke her voice was much more cocky than before.

“Think you can take on a beast?”

The air actually crackled with static electricity when she spoke and Annie adjusted her footing and flicked her sword up into position. 

-

To say Mikasa came at her like lightning would be an insult to Mikasa’s skill. She was lightning incarnate, all speed and power. At first, it was all Annie could manage to deflect deadly accurate blows but slowly Mikasa fell into a pattern. That would be her downfall, Annie decided. 

When Mikasa glanced left Annie ducked the same direction underneath her arm and slammed the butt of her sword into Mikasa’s kidney. This caused her to splutter, clearly in pain but her eyes crackled more to life. 

Up close her eyes were much more like rain clouds than Annie had realised. Sparks flashed from one side of the iris to the other, a tiny electrical storm. She found herself more than a little distracted as her arm connected hard with Mikasa’s in a painful but effective block. 

Mikasa smelled like an electrical storm and fresh rain. Her hair looked awfully soft this close up. Another shot glanced her face. Okay, Annie, focus. 

She found herself back on the defensive, blocking the blows raining down on her harder and harder. Annie hadn’t noticed she’d been backed up the steps of the pavilion until her back hit one of the columns. 

Focus on her weaknesses. The scarf. Mikasa was wearing a scarf, it just peeked out from under. She swung lower, at Mikasa’s knees so she was forced to lean forward. She saw her chance and she took it. 

She grabbed the scarf and yanked as hard as she could. She heard the fabric tear and Mikasa gasped and grabbed for the torn fabric. A bolt of lightning shot down from the sky, narrowly missing Annie.

Mikasa turned on heel and marched down the stairs, only stopping once to shoot Annie a death glare that made Annie’s hair stand on end. 

-

The sky had turned a dark color and as she watched Mikasa’s retreating form, it began to drizzle. Eren looked up at her as descended the pavilions seats, rubbing the back of his head with his hand and looking one part nervous one part pitying. He was the first to break the silence, 

“There’s not alot of ways that could’ve gone worse.” He said, with his voice low

“Why’d she freak out like that?” Annie asked, trying to judge how phenomenally she’d just   
fucked up

“Well. That scarf is- was, really important to her. I better go catch up with her. Find me or aft Armin after capture the flag tonight and we’ll explain.”

He jogged off towards the Zeus cabin and several people who’d been sparring around them shot her pitying looks. How phenomenally had she fucked up? 

On a scale of 1 to Pandora, she felt like a pretty solid Prometheus.

-

Luckily, Eren seemed to have succeeded in calming Mikasa down, at least enough to stop the rain. The dining hall was packed when Annie found her way in. Reluctantly, she sat down alone at the Hades table. 

Even the magic drinks didn’t seem as fun now. As much as she didn’t show it, she felt pretty bad for destroying Mikasa’s scarf. She was great at destroying things, really. Her relationships, things, herself. 

She lay her head down on the table and muffled a sigh. Someone sat down beside her and punched her semi-lightly in the arm,

“Heard you gave ol’ angry face McSky Queen a run for her money. She always, and i mean, ALWAYS wears that scarf. There’s a rumor she doesn’t even take it off to shower. Shit son, you got some guts.”

Ah, Hitch. She always knows just what to say to make a girl feel approximately 20 times worse. Annie hadn’t even noticed Mikasa wearing it earlier. Too distracted by the death glares and disgustingly beautiful features. 

Hitch seemed to notice that did little to help her rally so more gently she said, “It’s not that big a deal. I bet she understands.”

No, Annie bet she didn’t understand. She didn’t even wanna look up at the Zeus table so she focused on Hitch, at whom she rolled her eyes.

“Chin up, cutie. There’s capture the flag tonight. After a stunt like that, everybody will want you on their team with this whole silent but deadly thing you’ve got going on.”

Annie let her head fall back to the table with another groan. 

“Oh look now. Team announcements.”

Connie sprinted up to the front of the pavilion, banging on a tiny gong to get the camp’s   
attention.

“Alright, folks, alright. Here,” He gestured grandly at the sheet of paper in his other hand, “are the team assignments for capture the flag.”

He continued, “On the red team, Eris, Hebe, Hermes, Hypnos Ares, Aphrodite, and Zeus.”  
Half the pavillion let out a cheer.

“And the rest of y’all, will be on the blue team. Finish up your dinner and go suit up!”

-

It was absolutely silent, just Annie and the flag, alone in the forest. How she had gotten wrangled into the job of flag guard, she had no idea. She huffed and sat back against a tree to wait. 

A faint rustling in the trees put her senses on high alert. Mikasa might hate her but the rest of the camp wasn’t. She was not gonna fuck this up. This job would be much easier with a vantage point, she decided. 

Her hands and feet gripped the tree’s rough trunk and she sat herself down on a thick branch about 30 feet above the ground. All was quiet still except the rustling of leaves in the wind but she remained vigilant. 

A flash of red showed through the trees a couple hundred yards away and she got to her feet balancing precariously on the round surface to get a better view. 

“Annie, fall.” whispered a voice directly in her ear

Annie startled, feet slipping out from under her and before she could respond she was falling through the air. Above her on the branch stood Mikasa whose expression was quickly changing from glee to regret.

Annie braced herself for impact with the ground. She prepared herself for the cold shadowy forest floor and the air being knocked from her lungs. Not to mention the countless injuries but it never came. Instead she landed directly on top of Mikasa. 

Back on the branch Annie looked around, feeling a confusing mix of anger, relief, and confusion. Mikasa stirred below her, letting out a weak groan. Annie realised how precarious a situation they were in. 

She felt Mikasa’s hips shift beneath her and she realised she was straddling her. Not the way she’d pictured this happening for the first time but satisfying nonetheless. Scratch that, she had never imagined it. 

She tried to scramble off the other girl and nearly fell off the branch again. Instead, her face almost slammed into Mikasa’s. Luckily, her reflexes were fast enough for her to plant her hands on Mikasa’s shoulders. 

Their faces were a couple inches apart and Mikasa looked more than a little dazed. Probably the only way she could look after what had just happened. Annie felt a flush crawl up her neck to her face. 

“I- uh, don’t think I can get off you without falling. Can you, uh, fly us down or.” She stumbled over her words as she most definitely was not staring at Mikasa’s lips

Mikasa sat up so Annie was just sitting on her lap. She couldn’t meet Mikasa’s eyes so she stared at her crossed arms

“You might want to hold on.”, Mikasa gently prodded

“Yeah, whatever.”

Annie slung her arms around Mikasa’s neck and she felt arms wrap around her waist. This didn’t feel like dancing at all. Gently she lifted the two of them into the air and lightly landed on the ground. 

They both let go and avoided looking at each other. Annie sure as hell wasn’t gonna be the   
first to apologise and there didn’t seem to be a whole lot else to say. Instead she nodded curtly and re crossed her arms. 

Suddenly Eren broke out of the brush slashing his blade wildly.

“AH HAH!” He shouted, brandishing his sword at Mikasa. 

He was oblivious to the tension filled air as he disarmed Mikasa and put her arms behind her back so he could escort her off to jail. 

Mikasa shot one last look over her shoulder as she was marched away and for the first time, it wasn’t a death glare. 

It was something hard, but less angry than puzzled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh how I love fanfic tropes
> 
> Not sure if this all made sense so shoot me an ask @conniespringers on tumblr or leave a comment if you need clarification.


	10. Bloody Hell

After all that had happened since that afternoon at the arena, Annie had to know more about Mikasa. What was the deal with that scarf? Why was she so freaking intense all the time? 

After capture the flag, Annie found herself scanning the mass of demi-gods leaving the forest post capture the flag for Eren or Armin. Eren had promised to explain what exactly was going on and she had always been the curious type. 

Kids at school had less than affectionately nicknamed her “Nosy Nelly” for that reason along with the slightly more literal one. But she had to know. So when she spotted Armin’s small blonde head bobbing along in the crowd she picked her way through the throng over to him. 

He was more or less being swept along with the tide, perpetually too nice to force others out of his way. Annie inserted herself into the small space beside him and started straight and to the point. 

“Eren told me you one of you two could explain what Mikasa’s deal is after capture the flag.”

He looked at her carefully, eyebrows knitting, 

“I can but Eren should be there. I’m meeting him at the beach now. You can come with me.”

By now the crowd was thinning out, everyone heading to their respective cabins or to the dozen other activities scheduled for that night. Above them stars were beginning to splinter the sky, tiny pinpricks of light. 

She startled slightly as his hand gently entwined with hers. His fingers were thin and his hand felt paper light in hers. When she looked at him quizzically he nodded slightly and led on. It became quieter as they split away from the crowd. 

He didn’t say something and neither did she. Silently she thought she finally got the appealing of holding hands. Up ahead the trees were clearing up and a picturesque beach spilled into view. Eren sat on a log looking out onto the water. His back was facing him but Annie could tell his hair was whipping about his face. 

If she had been an artist, she would’ve wanted to paint it. There was something about his eyes. There was always something intense boiling just beneath the surface. Apparently he heard them approach, Eren’s head twisted towards them so quickly it looked like it hurt. 

Even in the dusk it was apparent he had tensed and reached next to him for what Annie assumed was a weapon. Annie wondered if that was an Eren thing or a demigod thing or partially both? Luckily he dropped the fighting stance when he saw who is was and his face split into his characteristic goofy grin,

“Hey guys! Annie! What’s up dude?”  
He patted the log beside him and they settled beside him, Annie in the middle with Armin on her right and Eren on her left. Ordinarily this would make her incredibly uncomfortable but something about these two put her a little at ease. Perhaps that she could take them both with one arm behind her back. 

“Still with us there, Annie?”, Eren laughed

“What?”

“I asked if you still want to hear the story about Mikasa’s scarf.”

“Oh. Sorry. Yeah. I do.”

“Armin, stop me if I fuck up, okay? So as a kid I lived out in the countryside, real near this big forest. I spent all my time messing around in the woods pretending, right? So one day I hear someone screaming from a house then it goes real quiet. I’m real far from home and I find this clearing with a house so I hide the knife I’m carrying-”

“For ‘safety’”, Armin interjected

“Yes, for safety. I hide it behind my back and go up to the door and this big guy answers. I tell   
him I’m lost and he tries to shoe me off but I see a dead lady in the corner, so when he turns, i just, like, stabbed him. Then the other guy, then the other guy, then the other one. That’s when I saw Mikasa. The last guy grabbed me and knocked the knife out of my hands and well, she saved my life.”

“Shit.”, Annie half breathed

“Shit is right. That’s when I gave her the scarf. Now we’re siblings. Wasn’t till we got to camp years later that Chiron explained what actually happened to me. See Hera was pissed at Zeus for having a baby with Mikasa’s mom so she hired some guys to make them disappear. Now Hera hates us both.”, Eren continued

“The scarf is kinda like the last piece of her mom.”, Armin added

“So I tore the last piece of her mom.”

“That wasn’t meant to make you feel worse, Annie. If you apologise, I’m sure it will be alright.”, Armin said looking apologetic

Dryly Annie asked, “Hey Mika, I know I hurt your brother then insulted you then you nearly killed me then I nearly destroyed your most prized possession then you nearly killed me again but we can just let bygones be bygones be bygones, right?”

“Well maybe not like that.”

Eren and Armin shot each other a worried glance and Annie laughed for what felt like the first time in eons. They looked confused, like ‘why in the world are you laughing?’ 

“You two work together like a seamless machine. How long have you know each other anyway?”

“Seven and a half years.” they both answered simultaneously 

“See?”

Armin smiled, “Okay, maybe you have a point. It’s a good story actually. We were in grade school and I was in the library reading for lunch.”

“And some jackass decided to bully the wrong kid.” Eren tilted his head up and closed his eyes 

“I could have handled it but knight in shining armor over here took a swing at him instead and got suspended on my behalf. The intention was kind of sweet.” He chuckled

“That, however, wasn’t anywhere near as bad as when we were actually coming to camp.” Armin continued, pushing his hair out of his eyes, “Let’s just say there’s a reason our friend Eren here has the nickname, ‘Suicidal Asshole’.”

Eren threw his hands up in the air in mock protest  
“Hey! They should at least call me ‘Chivalrous Asshole’.”

“But what happened while coming to camp?”

“You know what Gorgons are, correct? Like Medusa? About six were right on our tails on Eren was spouting about their blood. I had a cut on my knee, the kind that you get when you slide on asphalt, which is to say, not that severe. Honestly, we’re running through the forest, the three of us, dodging trees left, right, and center and he’s on about needing the freaking gorgon’s blood. Well, Eren dives at one of the gorgons because he ‘had to get the blood to heal me’. That’s how we discovered Mika can fly. She scooped him right out of snake woman demise.”

“That is not what...Well, yes, it is.”

Annie had been having such a good time she hadn’t noticed just how dark it was getting until Armin pointed it out.

“Guys, we better head to our cabins. It's pretty late. I didn’t even notice.”

“Shit, you’re right buddy.”

The two of them both took her by the arm and as they headed back to camp Annie realised the whole evening she hadn’t thought once about her dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally updated, sorry bout the wait guys. Big things to come.
> 
> As always, kudos are appreciated, comments are better. 
> 
> My tumblr is now @laetan


	11. Damn Annie, Back at it Again With Those Heterosexual Thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The campers get some news and everyone gets a little gayer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey folks, I know its been eons since I last updated (sorry about that) but I can explain. I have ADHD and I only take meds for it during the school year cause, like, eating is important. 
> 
> So as an apology, here's a long chapter. Now that school is back in session, I should (hopefully) be updating at my regular erratic pace again.

The next morning Annie woke bleary eyed but well rested. Her dreams had been mercifully free of giant murder. Though she was getting somewhat used to her new surroundings, without Hitch’s surprisingly comforting presence, the cabin was more than a little unnerving.

Not only was her dad the god of death but he apparently never got over his My Chemical Romance phase. A sharp rapping on her door broke her out of her stupor. Eren’s voice was slightly muffled by the door but it did little to disguise the frantic tone in his voice.

“Annie you have to get up! Quick, get dressed and come to the mess hall! Something’s happening! Come on!”

This snapped her out of her sleepy haze pretty quick. Please, god, gods? Don’t let this have to do with her dream. Surely she still had time. Wouldn’t she have smelled the forest if it were burning?   
Still, she threw off her pajama top as hastily as she could. She jumped at the sound of the cabin’s doors being slammed open. Whipping around and pulling out her sword in one fluid motion, Annie unsheathed her blade and brandished it at the intruder who was none other than Hitch, who giggled nervously and held her hands up in mock surrender.

“Damn, Annie, back at it with those abs”, She laughed,”I don’t know whether to be terrified or turned on.”

She flicked her eyes, less than subtly, up and down Annie’s exposed torso. 

“Seriously. You can put that thing away. I didn’t mean to freak you out.”

Annie finally relaxed, even though her heart felt like it was about to hammer out of her body. Tension visibly drained from her shoulders and she squeezed her eyes shut momentarily, trying to get back some semblance of control over her own body.

Hitch’s previous statement hadn’t quite computed through the haze of adrenaline and panic. It wasn’t until Annie looked down and realized she was just wearing sweats and a sports bra did she realize what Hitch meant. 

Blushing furiously, she turned her back to Hitch and pulled on her camp t-shirt. When she looked at Hitch again, she found her eyes glimmering with humor. Annie reached for a pair of shorts, hoping Hitch would get the message as she turned away again. No such luck.

“I’m gonna…take my pants off now...so.”, Annie said, awkwardly clearing her throat

“And..?”, Hitch replied

Annie could actually hear her trademark smirk in her words. 

“Hitch.”

She could feel the blush creeping down her neck which only made her more nervous.

“Fine, fine. I’m leaving.”

The door squeaked slightly as she opened it but before she let it close behind her, Annie stopped her.

“Hitch, wait. Is something wrong? Is there a fight or something?”

She snorted at the way Annie’s eyebrows knitted and she set her jaw forward when she asked, even more serious than her default expression. Hitch had no doubt that this girl was ready for a fight, but she was so small that it was less intimidating than fucking adorable.

“If the camp were under attack, our friend Wonder Woman would be the one waking you up. And I doubt she has the courtesy to leave while you’re changing, like yours truly.” Hitch said, bending forward deeply while flourishing her arms in a ultra-respectful and ultra-sarcastic bow

At Annie’s blank expression, Hitch giggled nervously again. Her weight rested on her right hip and she kicked at the ground with her left foot and rubbed at the bridge of her nose with the back of her hand.

“That was a joke, dummy. Get it? Wonder Woman cause she can fly…like, and ‘cause she’s gay like, she wouldn’t leave cause...and Wonder Woman grew up on….All women...Like...uh..”

She trailed off at the end of her sentence.

With a slight nod she turned on heel and left letting the door bang shut behind her  
.   
Annie wasn’t sure what had just happened. She wasn’t sure if she’d done something wrong but most of her life she hadn’t had the slightest clue as to reading body language. Because she herself was so straight forward, she just assumed everyone else would be but that never seemed to be the case. 

Shaking her head, she finished changing as fast as she could and left her cabin. Kids were still trickling out of the two rows of cabins, in various stages of dress and wakefulness. 

-

When she entered the mess hall, it was apparent that the usually strict rule about sitting with your cabin mates had gone out the window. It was so early that the sun had barely broken the tree tops and Annie wished she had worn something warmer. 

After her previous encounter with Hitch, Annie wasn’t sure that she would be wanted at the Hermes table which, unlike so many cabins, had for the most part stuck together, so she sat down across from Eren and Armin, where it looked like the later was still asleep. 

They looked up at her approach, Armin blinking sleepily, Eren smiling broadly at her, demeanor just as sunny at any hour, apparently. Armin, on the other hand, looked much worse for wear. 

He was wearing a hoodie approximately three sizes too large for him and his hair evidently hadn’t been combed as it stuck up all over his head like straw. Armin blinked sleepily at Annie before laying his head back on Eren’s shoulder. Annie guessed that Eren had woke him up in a similar door pounding fashion. 

“Good morning, sunshine!”, he said at a volume far too high for the hour

Armin, apparently, seemed to agree with Annie’s appraisal of the greeting because he lifted his head to shoot a surprisingly blistering glare at Eren. Eren was apparently unperturbed, his smile never faltering but he lowered his voice anyway.

“This is so exciting!”, he whisper shouted

Armin must have decided getting him to speak at a lower volume was a lost cause because he just grunted weakly and turned his face into Eren’s neck.

“What is?”, Annie asked

“Well basically, you know the whole thing with the oracle of Delphi and what not from the stories. We got the oracle here and sometimes, they speak. And when they do, there’s usually a quest to go on. I’ve been on one and I’m DYING to go on another.” 

As he continued speaking, his voice slowly began to rise from a stage whisper to his normal level as he got more excited. Annie nodded as Eren elaborated on the process of going on quests and prophecies until she felt the bench shift as someone sat down next to her. 

Eren stopped midsentence to greet the newcomer, who was none other that Mikasa Ackerman herself. Annie tried to scoot over to give Mikasa more room but she was on the end of the bench. They were nearly touching, Annie could feel static cling from Mikasa’s shirt. 

She smelled like the forest right after it rains. A fact Annie would have appreciated much more had they both tried to kill each other just yesterday. Both of them, like many demigods had trouble sitting still, especially now that there was exciting news afoot. Every time either of them shifted, their arms would brush and they’d both freeze, trying to sit stock still. 

Completely oblivious to the tension in the air, Eren continued on with his story. Annie did her best to pay attention but she found herself wondering if it was the kind of shampoo Mikasa used, or maybe it was just a Zeus kid thing. 

But was it true with all demigods? Oh shit, did she smell like death? Mikasa gets flight and this damn intoxicating rain scent and lighting and she got, what? A coffin bed? The stench of rotting flesh? Thanks alot dad. Did the biceps come with being a child of Zeus too? 

She was pulled away from her thoughts when the hairs on the back of her neck stood up with the distinct feeling she was being watch. Not watched, stared at, probably glared at, which was Mikasa’s domain. She glanced over at Mikasa, bracing herself to meet her steely gaze but surprisingly, it didn’t seem like she was glaring, just watching from the corner of her eyes. 

Instead, Annie’s eyes met hers for a split second before Mikasa quickly snapped her eyes away. She studied Mikasa’s profile with interest. Unsurprisingly, Mikasa’s appearance showed no indication that she had been roused from sleep. Probably because she was up doing her ass crack of dawn set of 5,000 push ups. Wonder Woman was right, if anyone Annie knew was bulletproof it was this girl. 

But Wonder Woman’s armor isn’t very practical, even if she’s basically invulnerable plus the magic lasso. Not that she’d mind seeing Mikasa wear it. She hadn’t even realized she’d been staring at her for sometime until Mikasa made eye contact again. 

Now it was Annie’s turn to snap her eyes away. Please, gods, don’t let her be blushing. It’s incredibly hard to seem unflappable when you’re bright red. Thankfully Annie was torn away from her panic by the appearance of Chiron. He made his way up to the front of the room and almost instantly, a hush fell over the crowd. 

He cleared his throat before beginning, like an old timey politician. Everyone was laser focused on him, which, for a bunch of ADHD demigods was something of a miracle. Even Armin lifted his head to watch Chiron.

“I know how quickly word travels around camp so no doubt many of you know what this meeting is about. It is true. The oracle spoke to us this morning. We have a new prophecy. We’re doing our best to understand it’s meaning and as soon as we have any idea, you all we be the first to know.”

A groan rose from the crowd, clearly they weren’t going to learn anything right then.

“Someone,” Chiron continued, with a pointed look at their table, “was there when the oracle spoke and gathered you all here even though, that someone, was not asked to.” 

Eren grinned sheepishly, as what felt like 100 pairs of eyes simultaneously glared in his, and by extension, her, direction.

“No harm done, though. Those of you who aren’t cabin heads are free to go back to sleep. Cabin heads, please join me in the big house. We have matters to discuss.”

The mess hall began to buzz with activity as everyone began to speculate about the quest. Clearly, no one was going to be getting much more sleep. Mikasa immediately shot up from her seat, and murmured something to the boys that might have been, “see you there”, before exiting as promptly as she had come. Annie watched her go. 

Clearly, she was in a rush, going as fast as she could without breaking into an all out sprint. Annie started to get up too so she could head back to her cabin until a decent hour but before she could, Eren grabbed her wrist, probably more roughly than he intended. 

When she started, jumping away slightly from the contact his face twisted into an expression Annie couldn’t quite identify for a split second, so fast she’d almost missed it before he began smiling again. 

“Where are you going bro?” he asked

“Um. My cabin. That’s what Chiron said so.” Annie replied

“But you’re the only child of Hades here. By default, you are the cabin head.” Armin piped up

He looked slightly more awake now, even exhaustion didn’t make him immune to the excited energy of the camp.

“Wait, Eren, you heard the prophecy and you didn’t tell me what it was!?” Armin exclaimed, sitting bolt upright, all sluggishness gone instantly

“I...uh...Well,” He paused for a moment, “Don’t actually remember it?”

“Any of it?”

“Um. No comment.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay confession time: I still have literally know idea how to punctuate dialogue.
> 
> As always, I love comments, so if any of you are still reading this, it'd be excellent to hear from you. I love input, ideas of who characters' godly parents are, predictions, favorite moments, literally anything.


	12. Sky Blues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oracles are assholes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well hello all. Its literally been a year from the last update and for that I am sorry. If anyone is still reading this, I'm so sorry to leave you hanging. I have ADHD and sitting down to write is hella hard. But for anyone reading this, you have @OTrizy to thank for this update cause it's like midnight here and I saw their comment and was like FUCK. 
> 
> This wasn't beta'd so if anyone is interested in maybe doing that, I'm actually gonna be updating. See the bottom? ( is anyone still following this, in which case I'm talking to myself, I guess? please let me know)
> 
> I hope you all enjoy.

When Eren first told Annie about the oracle, she didn’t know exactly what she expected. Sexist, maybe, she assumed a girl in a flowing robe, a halo of curls, maybe, just a general angelic presence. What else should should one expect from the mouthpiece of the gods? 

Instead, in the upper bedroom of the big house sat the most uptight looking person she had ever laid eyes on. And it is important to note, Annie had spent her fair share of time busking in the parts of New York prior to her camp days notorious for that particular brand of corporate assholery. 

So suffice to say, she knew what kind of face one makes when they have a stick up their ass. But this person, it would seem, had it lodged so far up the rear, that they could now taste it in their mouth, judging by the look of pure distaste they were now shooting at none other than Annie herself. 

Annie raised one eyebrow, hoping the person who must be the oracle would break eye contact with her first, but the dark eyes just below dark, ruler straight bangs were unwavering.

“You’re late.”, sneered the oracle, with a facial expression akin to one who’s just stepped in something especially unpleasant while barefoot. 

They sat the head of the circle of metal of folding chairs filled with campers Annie vaguely recognized.

Chiron gently admonished, “Now, Marlowe, since their was no scheduled meeting and Annie is still very new here, there’s no harm done.”

“Not to mention Eren hasn’t managed to find his way here.”, said Jean,looking immensely proud of himself for, finding his way across 90ft of lawn, Annie could only assume

“He hasn’t succeeded in arriving on time,” added Ymir, “Get it cause, Nike, success, see—”

A collective groan rose from the group. Clearly this was not unusual behavior for Ymir, who seemed far from deterred by the group unenthusiastic response, as she and continued to elbow the ribs of the sweaty kid next to her.

“Good one, Ymir!”, Eren replied from just behind where Annie had planted herself in the doorway, seeming to have forgotten how to move when Mikasa’s eyes flitted to her. 

She hadn’t noticed this before but in the early morning light, they looked almost pinkish-orange. Annie couldn’t tell if they were reflecting the sky outside or maybe it was just another benefit of ideal godly parentage. 

Maybe that was the reason Annie’s own skin had always been just the tiniest bit translucent. Not noticeably so but enough that if you looked closely at the play where her sharp brow bone cut her forehead there was the slight blue of veins. Also why she never seemed to get any less pale. Were these things she could pin on her father or just normal? Honestly, relating parlor and death felt like she was reaching just a little too far but she had managed to shadow travel, right? And Nyx was the goddess of darkness not Hades but also— 

 

“Um, earth to Annie?” Eren had managed to push past her into the room and was waving his hand infront of Annie’s eyes.

“Seems like we lost ya there for a minute. That’s okay, ADHD, I get it. C’mon, sit with me.” Eren beckoned to her, characteristic grin unfaltering. He reached out to touch her shoulder then seemed to think better of it. 

Her sat on the other side of Marlowe, leaving an empty seat between himself and none other than Mikasa which he nudged in her direction with his foot. Once again, Eren was immuned to the mix of bitter and judgemental vibes now being sent at Annie from both Marlowe on her right, and Mikasa her left. Historia, across the circle, was peering with furrowed brow, eyes flitting between Eren, Mikasa, and Annie. 

Marlowe piped up again, “I really don’t think SHE”, he gestured sharply with his chin at Annie, “needs or deserves to be here. You heard the prophecy, Chiron. I think we should just kick her out now and save ourselves the trouble.”

Once again all eyes turned on Annie, heads swiveled as if controlled by machine.

He continued, “If she’s going to betray us, shouldn’t we just turn her over to the gods now, keep our hands clean? I think—”

Next to her she saw Eren balling and un-balling his fists, color rising in his cheeks, signs she learned in just the short time that she’d known him were an indication he was near to blowing his top.

“Cut that shit out, Marlowe.” half laughed out beside Annie.

But not from the person she expected.

Mikasa slouched coolly in her chair, seemingly untouched by the rising tension in the room. She rolled her eyes, and Annie was sure now, it wasn’t just a reflection of the light, they really were the color of the sky at daybreak, and crossed her arms over her chest. 

“We all know you think you’re the sun that shines out of Apollo’s ass but you’ve only been the oracle for a little under a year. I know you enjoy lording every prophecy over our heads like you’ve some superior knowledge what it means, but frankly, you have never, and will never know shit. So pipe the fuck down.”

Across the circle Jean was doubled over with laughter and Ymir began to clap in slow, rhythmic appreciation. 

“Fucking dammnnn, Ackerman.”

“I— You— Shut up!”, Marlowe spluttered as color rose in his cheeks rising out of the collar of his polo shirt. 

Annie turned to look at Mikasa, barely able to contain the look of pure shock from spilling over her features at the girl who she’s tried to strangle less than 24 hours ago coming to her defense. 

Mikasa turned to meet her gaze and Annie found herself wondering how they’d look in the dead of night, deep and blue and empty or maybe dappled with stars? Would they twinkle with starlight? My gods, she could fall into eyes like those. Mikasa’s face remained impassive when 

Annie finally realized that Mikasa had noticed her staring. She raised both eyebrows, face still completely unreadable. Annie was glad for the interruption when Chiron once again cleared his throat.

“Okay, okay, I would not have put it quite as...er… bluntly as Miss Ackerman but, Marlowe, you would do well to remember that prophecies are notoriously misleading so we had best not wrap ourselves up to much in possible meanings and rather in what things we can control.”

He glanced from Mikasa, to Marlowe, then back before looking to address Annie.

“I do think it’s important that you listen, Annie, ALL of you, and heed these words.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So hit me up if you might wanna beta, I love comments and crave validation.


	13. Dawn is Gone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are going to get worse before they get worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is kinda short but I'm trying to get back into the swing of things. 
> 
> Prophecy writing is surprisingly difficult.
> 
> also, as always comments are much appreciated

“Go ahead Marlowe.”  
Marlowe shifted defiantly in his chair, straightened up and crossed his arms resolutely over his chest.

“Does the back stabbed resent the knife or the hand?   
The death-betrayer shall learn of what is planned  
The dawn dies young, the sky's fading light  
Death-thief, dances away into the night  
Follow and die or lead and lose your life  
Adoration and desecration two sides of the same knife”

For the second time since she’d walked into the cramped little room Annie felt all eyes turn on her. Death-betrayer? That didn’t necessarily mean her. Did it? Marlowe seemed to think so. And from some of the accusatory looks being shot at her looked less than positive.

Ymir spoke up, looking carefully at Annie, none of her usual sarcastic lilt in her voice, 

“Okay look, death betrayer doesn’t necessarily mean Annie right?”

“Yeah, like, death betrayer could be death who betrays or someone who betrays death, neither of which HAVE to be—” started Armin

“Okay, look, I’m not going all witch hunting, pitchfork sharpening or anything but we can’t let ourselves get dicked over by—”

“No one is saying we let ourselves get fucked just that it’s not—”

“SAYING we need to wary of her is just—”

“What hell happened to innocent until guilty she—”

Just then a bubble of rainbow light bubbled to life in the center of the circle directly in front of Chiron. An Iris message Annie remembered vaguely from one of Armin’s explanations of the intricacies of the demigod world. A bearded man with piercing eyes and a booming voice. 

Mikasa leaned forward slightly in her chair and nearly inaudibly whispered one word. 

“Dad?”

That was when all hell broke loose.  
— 

Annie realized it wasn’t normal for the king of the gods to be Greek im-ing anyone, much less to someone she had determined to be basically a glorified camp counselor but the words Zeus had spoken kept ringing in her ears.

“Eos is dead”.

Her brain kept doing that awful thing that it did when it was overloaded, repeating then morphing the phrase so she couldn’t even remember what the original was until it became sing-songy and rhyming.

Eos is dead  
Dawn is dead  
Dawn is gone  
Dawn is gone   
Dawn is gone

Annie found herself stumbling down the steps of the big house, squinting in the daylight. The voices, panic, anger, fear all jumbled into a mess of overwhelming noise. The bright and the noise and the prophecy and the Iris message was just too damn much. She felt her knees giving out from under her. 

Annie braced herself for the impact but it never came. An arm wrapped firmly under both arms, a hand settled gently on her hip and lowered her to sitting on the steps. 

She sighed, and relaxed into the touch, looking over, expecting to see Eren who had saved her ass on multiple occasions now but instead was met with those piercing sky blue eyes. Mikasa. 

She must have felt Annie tense up because she pulled her arm away from where it was still holding Annie’s side. Her skin tingled faintly where Mikasa’s hand had been and Annie idly wondered if that had to do with Mikasa’s electrical abilities or her own inability to chill out. Apparently, ever. 

Mikasa looked calmly back at her, unblinking, which might have been creepy if her perfect cheekbones didn’t make her look like an intensely focused super hero considering her next move. Which Annie supposed, in a way, she was. After all, she could fly, smite people with lightning, get whoever she wanted to fall into her arms. Literally. 

She realized she was staring unblinking back at Mikasa, who was just inches away from her, for at least a minute. Behind them, someone wolf whistled, breaking the trance. The both jumped apart from each other and whipped their heads around to see none other than Ymir who was smirking, as per usual.

“I mean celestial murder gets me just as hot as the next guy but take it back to your cabin maybe.”

“Ymir, it's not like that, I just fell—”

Ymir raised her eyebrows and said nothing, taking several steps backwards towards the Hermes cabin, still facing them to make sure they both got the full effect of her smug expression. Mikasa rolled her eyes, before boosting herself up from sitting. 

Annie tried to say something, maybe “thank you” or “don’t go”, something. All that came out was,   
“You didn’t have to do that, I’m fine.”

Mikasa stopped for a moment, back still to Annie, and turned her head just slightly.

“Sure. But someone has to keep you from getting yourself killed, Leonhardt.”

And all Annie could do was watch her retreating back, retort dying on her lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, comments are much appreciated
> 
> more comments=more excitement to write=faster, longer updates 
> 
> so


	14. Wood I?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is it evil if it says please?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry y'all, I just started college. Also my space bar works maybe half the time so. Don't worry though, I finally have an idea of where the plot is gonna go.

The sound of footsteps, no not quite footsteps, hoofbeats to be specific sounded just behind Annie. She looked over her shoulder and saw Chiron was picking his way down the steps behind her, looking not unlike one of those dancing parade horses. 

It would have been almost comical if it hadn’t been for the prophecy still echoing dully in her ears. Annie considered herself fairly unshakeable, stalwart,her mother would say but anyone would be on edge, she reasoned, had that kind of bomb just been dropped on them. 

Chiron gently placed his hand on her shoulder and she fought the urge to flinch. 

“Annie, I think we should talk.”

But she didn’t want to talk. The last thing she wanted to do was sit here and talk to Chiron who would be too gentle, too kind, as his eyes dripped with pity. She didn’t even belong here. Everyone was smart or talented or brave (or beautiful), her mind so helpfully supplied.

They were everything she wasn’t and the longer she stayed, the sooner they would realize that. She knew she could not stay here but Annie also knew she had nowhere to go. 

Chiron repeated himself, “Annie, I think we should ta—”

Annie felt herself shrugging his hand off her shoulder, jaw clenched, mouth set into a hard line. Without thinking she rose to her feet so quickly her head spun and took off across the lawn. 

She knew she was being rude. She knew Chiron was probably standing back there, brows knit in a concerned line. She knew she couldn’t deal with it. Not right now. 

She broke into a run and headed to the woods where they had played capture the flag. The voices of the campers, now enthralled in their daily activities faded as she drew nearer to the center of the forest. 

As the trees began to thicken, she began to slow, not entirely sure if she were to keep running, where she would go. As the foliage thickened above her, the light began to dwindle, making it look as though twilight had come early.  
Up ahead, in the shadows, what looked like a pair of eyes was peering at her through the gaps in the trees. She reminded herself what Hitch told her about nymphs and how they loved to watch the campers

“Couldn’t be much more goddamn nosy, could you?”, Annie shot at it, kicking at the grass, “What the fuck do you want?”

“Annie?, a deep, smooth voice replied

“Jesus fuck! I thought you were a nymph!”

From the shadows around the eyes, materialized a face, tall, skin dark as the bark, definitely not a nymph. From between the trees, a boy. One she recognized. Something stirred in her memory but she couldn’t grasp what. He looked confused, almost pleased to see her, hopeful maybe.

“Sorry, I thought you saw me.”, his voice, soft, reassuring

“What are you doing, skulking in the forest anyway? Wait, who are you?”

Annie couldn’t keep up with her thoughts, this boy, where did she know him? Had they met before?

“You...do you remember me?”

She didn’t. She’d met so many people in the last several days, it was a blur.

“I…”, she paused, grasping for some kind of inkling, just out of reach.

His face fell.

“I’m Bertholdt, from the Hecate cabin. I was in the meeting this morning…”, He trailed off, like he had something left to say.

“Oh. Sorry.”

“You really don’t remember anything?”

He seemed hopeful.

“Have you seen—”

He was cut off by a huge hand clapping him on the back, hard enough to knock the wind out of him, apparently, because he began to cough slightly.  
“Bertl, let Annie be, alright? You remember what it was like when we first started here?”, 

Reiner, seemingly materialized out of the trees, still clapping Bertholdt on the back as he shot his signature 10,000 kilowatt smile at Annie. She looked between them, glancing from face to face. 

Bertholdt, unable to meet Annie’s eyes, ducked his head, flush rising from his neck. He seemed antsy and he kept spinning a ring around his little finger but beside him Reiner’s face never faltered. 

An awkward silence fell over the trio, Annie eying the other two suspiciously. 

“Well! We best be getting back to archery! Bertie and I are supposed to be teaching! See ya, Annie-O!” 

Reiner smiled even wider, she hadn’t thought it possible. With one hand he waved cordially and the other he seized Bertholdt’s hand and turned on heel, pulling him away. 

Annie was left there, perfectly still, as Bertholdt shot one last glance back at her over his shoulder.

-  
Had she seen what? Bertholdt’s words echoed over and over in her head. What could he possible be talking about? Still something felt off. But then again, these days there was nothing that felt even remotely “on” in her life. 

Sighing deeply, she dropped down onto a fallen log. She knew she had to go back but it didn’t have to be now. She reached into her pocket for her knife. Idly, she flipped it open and unsheathed the sword. 

Turning it slightly so it caught the dim light filtering between the trees, she let it rotate in her hand until the blade brushed the dirt. Something caught her eye.There, something was etched into pommel of the blade, it read,

“Annie, please find Mnemosyne”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, more comments mean more updates more quickly so tell me what ya think. 
> 
> Who ya like, who you don't, who you wanna see more of less of, where you think the plot is going, anything really.

**Author's Note:**

> Love to hear your thoughts.  
> tumblr is @Conniespringers


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